Wraps, damage, or shipping protection including pillows of air, “bubble wrap”, “packing peanuts”, compressible or non-compressible foam, wrapping or the like is used to protect the movement or transport of parts, items or packages (“PIoP”, or generically as “objects” herein) worldwide. The primary purpose of this packaging is to reduce the likelihood of damage to the PIoP.
Some types of shipping protection or impingement or shock detection include the ability to detect shock, vibration, temperature conditions or other resulting environmental conditions such that the PIoP will register that additional inspection is required. A damaged cardboard box containing an item would undergo further inspection to make sure the packaged item is not broken, damaged, or otherwise rendered non-usable for the purpose intended.
Although the packaging industry has developed ways to protect items that would be damaged upon impingement or impact, most packaging or wrapping options provide very little in the way of locating the point or area of impact other than obvious deformation of the PIoP. It is possible to accept delivery of a PIoP that does not have any outward indication of mishandling or otherwise be rendered unacceptable for its intended use. An example may be a TV or computer monitor that must be powered on to determine if one or more screen pixels have been damaged. In addition, this damage may be a very small area on a very large object such that inspection of the entire surface or object must be undertaken. Such impacts and abrasions can be encountered with everyday shipping or transportation activities, including activities such as simply moving an item within a storage area or moving items a significant distance by air, truck, or rail. Such impacts and abrasions can be very costly, and can even result in rendering the PIoP unusable for its intended purpose.